Ex-Bears wide receiver Hurd indicted by federal grand jury

January 04, 2012|Tribune News Services

Former Bears player Sam Hurd. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/ Chicago Tribune)

DALLAS -- Former NFL wide receiver Sam Hurd was indicted Wednesday on federal drug conspiracy and possession charges after he and another man were accused of trying to establish a drug-dealing network.

The indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Dallas accuses Hurd, cut by the Bears after his arrest last month during an undercover drug sting, and codefendant Toby Lujan of single counts of cocaine possession and conspiracy to possess cocaine. It also seeks forfeiture of $88,000 in cash by Lujan and a 2010 Cadillac Escalade by Hurd.

Hurd remained free on $100,000 bond. Both could be sentenced to 10 years to life in prison if convicted of conspiracy and up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the possession count. Hurd's attorney, David Kenner of Encino, Calif., declined to comment on the indictment until he could review the documents.

Federal court documents listed no attorney or custody status for Lujan, a Dallas resident. No court dates have been set.

The 26-year-old Hurd, a San Antonio resident who now lives in the Chicago area, was arrested Dec. 14 outside a Chicago steakhouse after authorities said he agreed to buy a kilogram of cocaine from an undercover agent. The Bears cut the former Dallas Cowboys receiver Dec. 16, two days after his arrest.

According to court documents, a confidential informant told federal Homeland Security investigators last July that a man, now identified as the 26-year-old Lujan, was trying to arrange purchase of cocaine for an unidentified man, later identified as Hurd.

The complaint said Hurd was arrested outside a Chicago steakhouse after allegedly telling an undercover agent that he was interested in buying five to 10 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week to distribute in the Chicago area.

Hurd told the agent a "co-conspirator is in charge of doing the majority of the deals" while he focused on "higher-end deals," the complaint said. He agreed to pay $25,000 for each kilogram of cocaine and $450 a pound for the marijuana, according to the charges, and then said he could pay for a kilo of cocaine -- about 2.2 pounds -- after "he gets out of practice." He walked out of the restaurant with the package and was arrested.